Real Estate August 13, 2010 1:00 PM

Makeover Starts at 1040 Delaware Avenue

WCPerspective 33

A former nursing home is getting an impressive makeover. Greenleaf & Company is teaming with Paul Kolkmeyer to jointly redevelop 1040 Delaware Avenue. A mix of 49 rental units is planned along with 2,000 sq.ft. of ground floor office space. With a new use, the building is also getting a new look. The boxy, non-descript building will get a new façade that complements its Delaware Avenue neighbors.

1040 Delaware LLC's redevelopment project carries a $5.5 million price tag. The former Lutheran Nursing Home is located between W. Utica Street and Lexington Avenue and has been vacant for the past ten years. Greenleaf and Kolkmeyer are also planning a conversion project for the former Spaghetti Warehouse location at 141 Elm Street.

A berm in front of the building will be removed and a new main entrance will be created in what is now the basement. The building will gain a parapet and a new brick façade with stone and iron accents. A bump-out at the center of the façade will be flanked by columns of bayed windows. David Wylier & Associates is architect.

"We believe we will be transforming this somewhat boring and unimpressive structure into a substantial building with its own unique character," says James Swiezy, Greenleaf's General Manager. "It will fit in nicely with the neighboring Delaware Avenue properties. We also believe it will become a premier address with all the expected amenities."

The units will have high-end, modern finishes including hardwood and ceramic tile floors. Hard-surface countertops and stainless steel appliances are planned. The building has ample parking and will include a storage area for tenants along with laundry facilities and an exercise room. The developers are looking into the possibility of adding a rooftop garden/patio area.

Rents are expected to range from $650 up to $1,200/month for the one and two-bedroom residences. Swiezy says converting the building to condominium ownership is likely but is at least three years off.

Construction is now in its early stages. Crews have begun interior demolition and roof work. The building is expected to be tenant-ready in eight to ten months.

Greenleaf Development and Construction will handle the construction management work and Greenleaf & Company will be responsible for leasing all 49 apartments and the office space on the first floor. Greenleaf currently owns and operates over 650 apartment units in the city.

Get Connected: Greenleaf, 716.885.8538

View image

Comments

33 Comments Leave a comment

JSmith

August 13, 2010 12:01 PM

"A berm in front of the building will be removed" - wow, those are rather rare and pleasant words!

I can't say I'm thrilled by the porte-cochère style driveway (that doesn't actually have the extended roof that is kind of the whole point of a porte-cochère), but I guess they could realistically pull the front of the building only so far towards the sidewalk.

[ Reply ]

Score: -2 ( 4 votes )

Arch

August 13, 2010 12:01 PM

wow. that is the worst architectural rendering i have ever seen!

[ Reply ]

Score: -14 ( 20 votes )

longgone

August 13, 2010 1:17 PM

WOW. You really can not win in Buffalo.

I think the rendering is just fine for where the project is at.

[ Reply ]

replied to Arch

Score: 4 ( 8 votes )

sonyactivision

August 14, 2010 1:04 AM

I've seen worse but it does have a certain clownish charm...

[ Reply ]

replied to Arch

Score: -2 ( 4 votes )

Arch

August 16, 2010 10:59 AM

To qualify my previous post: architecture is not created in a vacuum. You have clients, banks, users, pedestrians, etc to satisfy. So a rendering is the first opportunity to clearly articulate a vision for what (in this case and addition) the future is going to look like. This rendering has clarity, but does not make me excited about the project nor does it make me want to live there. It is poorly crafted, signifying that the project may be poorly envisioned.

Every time I see a poor rendering on this site, these are the things I think of. It is a REFLECTION of the process, and of things to come. Most likely the "facade" will be faux brick and dryvit.

[ Reply ]

replied to Arch

Score: -2 ( 4 votes )

Urbanica

August 13, 2010 12:58 PM

I'll take a bad rendering anyday if it means renovating a building that has been vacant for 10 years into 49 apartments. Cheers to Greenleaf.

[ Reply ]

Score: 4 ( 4 votes )

johnnywalker

August 13, 2010 1:12 PM

I hope somebody sues to stop this project. Those beautiful historic shrubs must be preserved at all costs.

[ Reply ]

Score: 3 ( 13 votes )

JohnQBuffalo

August 13, 2010 1:27 PM

sarcasm...ahh yes...we Buffalonians know it well

Yes, 1920s style...well its an improvement...and more residential will certainly help

I would recommend that they change the front entrace to a portico over the driveway

[ Reply ]

replied to johnnywalker

Score: -4 ( 6 votes )

LouisTully

August 13, 2010 3:35 PM

forget the shrubs. what about that nice big old tree

[ Reply ]

replied to johnnywalker

Score: 0 ( 2 votes )

Sean Brodfuehrer

August 13, 2010 1:46 PM

What a great project! It will help to turn one of those many blank, modern buildings along Delaware into something that adds some interests, life and people to the street. So glad to see they are following the berm-be-gone strategy... Berms are almost never a good idea in urban areas. The reuse of the basement for and entrance is a simple and really smart move. It elongates the height of the building and gives it more stature to fit in with the surrounding architecture. I do wonder if it would be possible to keep that large -almost mature- tree in front though. It really is amazing what a simple cornice and parapet can do.

[ Reply ]

Score: 3 ( 3 votes )

mcreadyinteriors

August 13, 2010 2:00 PM

Good reporting! It's nice to finally find out what happened here!

[ Reply ]

Score: 2 ( 2 votes )

grad94

August 13, 2010 2:11 PM

i am swooning! rendering quality aside, i enthusiastically applaud the facelift.

it gives the building the elements of a classical column: base, shaft, cornice. virtually all of the tall buildings that seem satisfying and elegant in an urban context have this tripartite scheme. lopping off well-defined cornices during the modernist dark ages made everything look like a utility substation. the bay windows are terrific. i love the removal of the berm and the resulting verticality, center entrance, and direct connection to the street.

my only concern is the apparent loss of the mature tree in front. or was it just left out of the rendering?

props to the designers! are they local?

[ Reply ]

Score: 2 ( 2 votes )

JSmith

August 13, 2010 2:27 PM

I think there are several mature trees on the front lawn that would be sacrificed. Maybe they could be replanted across the street on the big lawn surrounding Timon Tower or something?

I hope the finished process looks as decent as the rendering. The bricks certainly aren't going to magically change from brown to orange!

Pretty clever way of improving the front facade, for sure! And despite my gut annoyance with the pull-through driveway, this will interface with the street and sidewalk much better than the existing building does, raised up on a berm and hidden behind trees.

[ Reply ]

replied to grad94

Score: 0 ( 2 votes )

mp1

August 13, 2010 4:05 PM

I'll have to take a trip by there soon, but I don't think that berm is high enough to uncover the basement like they think. I think it's only 3-4 feet high, which is still 5 feet too short to create a basement entrance.

[ Reply ]

Score: -2 ( 2 votes )

WCPerspective

August 13, 2010 4:37 PM

The driveway will dip down a bit- hard to tell in the rendering. There are stairs in the sidewalk leading down towards the entrance.

[ Reply ]

replied to mp1

Score: -1 ( 3 votes )

rubagreta

August 13, 2010 4:07 PM

I thought Buffalo was dying and everyone was moving to North Carolina. How is this possible?

[ Reply ]

Score: 0 ( 6 votes )

NBuffguy

August 14, 2010 8:02 AM

Not dying. Shrinking gracefully.

[ Reply ]

replied to rubagreta

Score: 1 ( 3 votes )

Lego1981

August 13, 2010 5:44 PM

This will be BIG improvement from the current design. Reminds me of the older apartments on the other end of Deleware near Gates Circle.

[ Reply ]

Score: 0 ( 2 votes )

sonyactivision

August 14, 2010 1:06 AM

Well...this place certainly promises to be livelier.

[ Reply ]

Score: 0 ( 2 votes )

LI2Northpark

August 14, 2010 6:43 AM

This is good news. I used to live on Lex and walked by this building all the time. It always looked like there were a lot of sketchy things going down in the parking lot out back.

[ Reply ]

Score: 0 ( 2 votes )

derby98

August 14, 2010 7:16 AM

Great plan to blend facade with area.

[ Reply ]

Score: 1 ( 3 votes )

Buffalo_Resurrection

August 14, 2010 11:21 AM

Nice concept and a welcome alteration to a building that never did blend-in with the surrounding neighborhood.

The rendering almost appears as if it was done by hand and, if so, my compliments to the artist. However, I suspect it is a software program that I am not familiar with; perhaps someone from Wylier & Associates would be willing to mention the name such as Revit perhaps?

[ Reply ]

Score: 0 ( 2 votes )

lalucedm

August 15, 2010 7:57 AM

I'm usually against a building taking on an architectural style that it wasn't built to be in, in an era when we are no longer able to create that architectural style. This is gonna look like a corny knock-off of the 1920s style, most likely, as opposed to being convincing. However, what's the alternative? - keeping a particularly ugly modernist box? In this case, it's probably the right solution.

As for the rendering, I actually think it's quite nice. It's not crisp, like a computer rendering, but that makes it nicer, in my opinion. It was either done completely by hand, or using a Sketchup or Revit printout as a base and then sketched and colored over by hand.

[ Reply ]

Score: 0 ( 4 votes )

grad94

August 15, 2010 3:26 PM

that is one of the more destructive tenets of authoritarian modernism. hard to believe that anyone still takes it seriously.

this 'buildings must be of their own time' dictum is as silly as declaring that 'novels must be of their own time' and historical fiction is henceforth inauthentic and belongs in the dumpster. tough luck, lauren belfer.

it instantly and conveniently rendered nearly all pre-1900 american architecture ideologically worthless and disposable. what better way to get clients to throw away sound, solid buildings that had decades if not centuries of service still left in them and buy your product instead?

we slaughtered so many fine pre-modern buildings that it took widespread revulsion and a national preservation movement to end decades of architectural stalinism.

[ Reply ]

replied to lalucedm

Score: -1 ( 5 votes )

davvid

August 15, 2010 7:41 PM

A building reflects the people that built it and the conditions that made it possible.

Even historical fiction is in some way a response to contemporary themes(anxieties, aspirations, etc.)

And when nostalgia or "blending in" becomes the strongest guiding force in a design process it reflects at least some lack of imagination.

[ Reply ]

replied to grad94

Score: 1 ( 3 votes )

grad94

August 16, 2010 8:03 AM

nonsense. it reflects a client or architect with more imagination than indulging someone's need to 'make a statement' as the primary consideration.

there are vocabularies and behaviors that are appropriate for different settings. we dress and speak and behave differently at a funeral than we do when tailgating at the ralph. adapting to context is how we show respect for others and is not a verdict on how much imagination we possess.

respect for context is as important for our buildings as it is for us as members of society. no one likes the 'imaginative' guy who shows up at your dad's funeral with a grill, a keg, and a hawaiian shirt.

indulging one's ego at the expense of other people and considerations is often a sign of sociopathology. i applaud the designer for recognizing that this building exists in a particular context and is not an isolated piece of sculpture on a pedestal.

[ Reply ]

replied to davvid

Score: 0 ( 2 votes )

davvid

August 16, 2010 11:45 AM

First of all, this design for 1040 Delaware IS about making a statement. Just because a design is traditional, presented in watercolor and serif fonts doesn't mean it will melt into the existing context.

If this design were a person, it would be Hyacinth Bucket from Keeping Up Appearances. There's nothing wrong with that if that's your target demographic.

And what is this business about ego? Does the existing building scream "look at me"? No, its just a modest boxy thing hiding behind trees. This stretch of Delaware Ave has a number of buildings similar to this one. They are much less about ego than the nearby mansions.

[ Reply ]

replied to grad94

Score: 1 ( 1 votes )

Delawarian

August 16, 2010 11:56 AM

By all means conform to the neighborhood standard. Why think anew when you can bask in the glow of past glories and then schlockily recreate them. Shouldn't the Darwin Martin House be a tall boxy victorian? Shouldn't the Guaranty Building be a Medina sandstone gothic revival structure? Don't even get me started on that Temple Beth Zion that had the gall to think ahead architecturally on sainted Delaware Ave! Let's just make conpromises that end up quickly dated and automatically boring like Coca Cola Field, every building on Fountain plaza except Buffalo Savings and the ersatz resurrection of the former red light district on the waterfront! This is why there hasn't been more than five architecturally interesting buildings constructed since 1974!

[ Reply ]

replied to grad94

Score: 2 ( 2 votes )

grad94

August 16, 2010 3:05 PM

so what puts this apartment building in the same class as the guaranty and martin house?

[ Reply ]

replied to Delawarian

Score: 0 ( 2 votes )

Delawarian

August 16, 2010 4:13 PM

That's my point. Instead of something that may be different or exciting, Buffalo again has to settle for something that conforms to the neighborhood standard. How boring.

[ Reply ]

replied to grad94

Score: 1 ( 1 votes )

biniszkiewicz

August 16, 2010 6:31 PM

okay, but for a rehab this is pretty decent. The bones are the bones. There's not much to work with here. Given the basic box, I'm pretty impressed at the solution.

[ Reply ]

replied to Delawarian

Score: 0 ( 0 votes )

skarnath

August 16, 2010 7:09 PM

I really enjoyed this discussion - laughed out loud several times. Have to say that I agree with grad94. This is a rather simple, elegant and affordable solution to the building's current disconnect from Delaware. I would like to say that it's an obvious solution, but it's only obvious to me after the fact. And I am making a commitment to stop wearing Hawaiian shirts to funerals.

[ Reply ]

Score: 0 ( 2 votes )

Sean Brodfuehrer

August 18, 2010 11:17 AM

Great cities are made up of decent \ ok buildings arranged in a way that create the connections and vibrancy we fall in love with. If this new design is considered traditional or uninspiring... that is fine because it is a solid design that will reflect the city in which it is. There are no great cities with only cutting edge designs... there simple isn't enough money \ demand for that and the end product probably wouldn't be a comfortable place to live and be. Think Brasilia... a whole city developed from scratch in the ideal form of modernist thinking... It is a complete disaster and the people who have to live there suffer because you can't change society through buildings alone...

The Guarantee and Martin House are great departures from the vernacular architecture of their times, but they still added value to the city and streets. Modernist buildings and the suburban styles that followed simply do not add anything to the "city" but are just about function. Rome \ Paris \ Germany are all places full of normal buildings with jewels here and there. They are not cities created holistically of iconic structures. For ever great building, you need blocks of good, decent buildings that respect the urban design to create a place worth being in.

To that end, this renovation isn't ground breaking or iconic and that is OK. We need to fill the city with good buildings and worry about our current icons that are falling apart before our eyes. If someone wants to build a new icon... go for it, but we shouldn't expect \ desire that from every project.

[ Reply ]

Score: 2 ( 2 votes )